Chapter 627

—Kwoooar!

“Kwaaak!”

The screams of monsters and people rang across the battlefield.

Giant monsters collapsed, and Awakeners fell bleeding.

The orange-colored sand was stained red with blood.

“You sons of bitches!”

“We’ll kill every last one of you.”

The Awakeners of Neo Seoul burned with rage at the sight of their comrades dying.

Originally, their sense of unity had never been that strong.

Even though they all lived in the massive city called Neo Seoul, they were divided into East District, West District, and so on.

Awakeners from other districts were competitors and potential enemies.

That was how they had lived for over a hundred years.

Though so much time had passed, the hostility had never disappeared. Naturally, they thought it never would.

But before a common enemy, the old hostility and distance between them melted away like snow, and a powerful bond formed.

At this very moment, they were no longer enemies fighting divided by district.

They were comrades fighting together to protect their home, Neo Seoul and the Steel Fortress.

The sight of comrades fighting beside them bleeding and dying awakened their fighting spirit.

“Uwaaaah!”

“Come at us, you fucking bastards!”

They swung their weapons desperately and unleashed their skills.

Boom! Kwaaang!

The earth shook, and monsters and other races fell dead.

No one knew how long they fought like that.

Their breath reached their throats, and it felt as if their hearts would burst.

There were still many enemies left, yet their minds were growing hazy, and strength drained from their limbs to the point they could barely swing their weapons.

“Fuck!”

“Is this the end?”

Just as their despair reached its peak—

“Uwaaaah!”

“Let’s go!”

With loud battle cries from the Steel Fortress, countless people charged out.

Liala and Hera had led human Awakeners and elves into battle respectively.

They were people who had once belonged to El Harun.

Because of that, there had always been doubts.

Though they had now defected to Neo Seoul and stayed within the Steel Fortress, people wondered if they might betray them someday.

More than a few held such thoughts.

That was why they had kept a certain distance from them.

But seeing them rushing out to save them made emotions well up in their chests for some reason.

The forces led by Liala and Hera passed the Awakeners of Neo Seoul and clashed head-on with the other races of El Harun.

“Kraaah!”

“Traitors!”

The other races of El Harun exploded in fury at the appearance of Liala, Hera, and the others.

They could not ignore the humans of the Steel Fortress, but they could never forgive the humans and elves who had betrayed El Harun.

Those who had once been allies and then betrayed them were far more hateful than those who had always been enemies.

The fury of El Harun’s races shifted from the Awakeners of the Steel Fortress to Liala, Hera, and the others.

“Tear them apart!”

“Uwaaa!”

Yet even before their vicious momentum, the reinforcements led by Liala and Hera did not shrink back.

They too had plenty to say.

“Fuck! Back when we were there, you never even treated us like humans, and now you call us traitors? Don’t make me laugh, you bastards!”

“This is our home now. You’re nothing but invaders here to trample our land. You think we’ll let you take it?”

Not only the humans, but even the elves were furious.

In that short time, they had become one with the Steel Fortress.

Without sparing themselves, they fought the other races with every ounce of strength they had.

Seeing them fight like that gave courage to the Awakeners of the Steel Fortress and Neo Seoul.

“Uooooh! Let’s go!”

“Fuck! Let’s fight till we die!”

They squeezed out the last of their strength and fought the other races to the very end.

And so, they became one.

At this moment, they were comrades united to protect the Steel Fortress.

Their origins and ideologies no longer mattered at all.

There was only one thing in their minds: protecting their comrades and the Steel Fortress.

“Kkeuuugh! What the hell? Why are they like this?”

“Damn it!”

The other races of El Harun were instead startled by the overwhelming momentum of people charging without regard for life or death.

Overwhelmed by that momentum, they slowly began retreating.

“Tsk!”

Watching from afar, Del Roa clicked his tongue.

He instinctively realized today was hopeless.

He signaled to the subordinate beside him.

The subordinate immediately blew the horn hanging around his neck with all his strength.

Bwoooooo!

As the majestic horn sound echoed across the battlefield, the other races who had been ferociously attacking the Steel Fortress withdrew like the receding tide.

“Let this be enough for our first greeting.”

After all, it was only the first day.

He had never expected to conquer that sturdy fortress on the very first day.

They had inflicted considerable damage on the enemy, so it was better to withdraw and reorganize for today.

At the same time, he called back the monsters as well.

When the bone necklace around his neck, Kritus, emitted light, the monsters attacking the Steel Fortress turned back.

Kritus meant “trash” in the language of Kurayan.

It was such a mysterious object that even Del Roa did not know how it had been created or how it had found its way here.

While researching Kritus, Del Roa discovered that something had been sealed inside it.

However, he failed to uncover the identity of the sealed being.

It was not a single existence sealed within, but too many things mixed together chaotically.

It looked like a heap of trash clumped together, which was why it was named Kritus.

He did not know what was sealed inside Kritus, but it contained tremendous power, enough to mentally dominate monsters.

The problem was that Kritus consumed an enormous amount of mana and mental energy.

Even Del Roa had to concentrate his mind all day long to use it properly.

Because of that, Del Roa himself was utterly exhausted.

Yet his eyes still blazed sharply.

“The Steel Fortress… I will conquer it without fail.”

---

Once the enemies retreated, Seo Taeran stepped forward and took command.

“Hurry and tend to the wounded and collect the bodies of the dead.”

“Yes!”

“Reset the traps and weapons too. We don’t know when the enemy will attack again, so move quickly.”

“Understood.”

The non-combat Awakeners moved in perfect order as they answered.

Seo Taeran had brought countless non-combat Awakeners with her.

Mechanics and healers were naturally included, along with many others.

The cleanup afterward was their responsibility.

First, the wounded were transported into the Steel Fortress.

“Uugh!”

“Damn it!”

The groans of the injured echoed through the interior of the Steel Fortress.

Urtian’s wife, Deborah, stepped forward leading the women.

“Move the injured as carefully as possible. Don’t let them shake even once.”

“Yes, Lady Deborah.”

The women of the Steel Fortress moved the wounded while answering.

Though they were not Awakeners and could not fight directly, they wanted to help somehow, so the women stepped forward.

Then the healers moved in for the wounded they had brought in.

“Give potions to the lightly injured, and focus treatment on the seriously wounded.”

“Yes!”

The healers sorted the incoming patients by condition and used their abilities.

But the number of healers was very small, while patients kept pouring in endlessly.

The healers whose mana quickly became depleted turned deathly pale.

Compared to martial-type or magic-type Awakeners, healers were notably lower ranked.

Their abilities were weaker, yet they were in constant demand, so exhaustion came quickly.

“Damn it!”

“W-What do we do?”

Just as they reached their limits and were at a loss—

Whoooong!

Suddenly the portal activated, and children appeared.

“Why are there kids?”

“Who are they?”

The Awakeners guarding the portal cried out in surprise at the sudden appearance of children.

At that moment, Seo Taeran stepped forward.

“They’re the children I requested as reinforcements. Leave the patients to them.”

“Excuse me?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“N-No, ma’am.”

As Seo Taeran’s voice sharpened, the Awakener hurriedly answered.

Only then did Seo Taeran turn to the children.

“Jetoya, Lemura, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes!”

“Don’t worry, unni!”

The ones answering energetically were Jetoya and Lemura.

Jetoya had come with the martial-type Awakeners of the underground city, while Lemura came with children who had awakened as healers.

As Lemura approached the beds holding the injured, she spoke to the existing healers.

“Please rest and recover your mana. We’ll take over from here.”

“Who exactly are you kids—”

Instead of answering, Lemura unleashed her Cure skill.

Hwaaaahk!

A dazzling light burst from her body and swallowed most of the Awakeners lying in the beds.

“My god!”

“What rank is she?”

The existing healers stood there with their mouths hanging open.

As fellow healers, they could tell exactly what Lemura had just done.

A healing skill with incredible restorative power had been activated.

As proof, the wounds of the injured enveloped in Lemura’s light began visibly healing.

Because it targeted an unspecified number of people rather than focusing on one person, the power should have been weaker.

Yet even so, it displayed far greater effectiveness than the concentrated healing of the existing healers.

Something completely beyond their imagination was unfolding before them.

And that was not all.

The healers Lemura brought with her also displayed incredible abilities.

They attached themselves to wounded people beyond the reach of Lemura’s powers and used their abilities.

People who had shown no improvement no matter how much healing the existing healers poured into them visibly regained color in their faces.

“All those kids are healers? Where in the world did children like them come from?”

The world of healers was extremely small.

That was because people who awakened as healers were extraordinarily rare.

Naturally, they all knew each other very well.

Yet Lemura and the children displaying incredible abilities now were all unfamiliar faces.

Naturally, questions arose.

But Lemura and the children had no time to answer their questions.

Every second mattered if they were to save even one more person.

Jetoya and the martial-type Awakeners stood with razor-sharp vigilance to protect Lemura and the healers.

Because of that, the existing healers did not dare approach them.

The participation of the underground city healers had been Lemura’s own will.

She had wanted to help Neo Seoul, and Jin Geumho and Seo Taeran had accepted her request for support.

Jetoya had not liked Lemura’s decision.

He feared that people curious about the origins of Lemura and the healers would uncover the existence of the underground city.

But soon he changed his mind.

The underground city could not remain secret forever.

Even now, technicians and Awakeners from Neo Seoul were coming and going from the underground city.

For now the secret was still being kept well, but eventually its existence would inevitably become known through their mouths.

If that was the case, then it was better to use this opportunity to leave a positive impression of the underground city.

“Mm!”

“Ah!”

The expressions of those healed by Lemura quickly relaxed.

The terrible pain they had suffered vanished as if it had been a lie.

They offered words of gratitude to Lemura.

“Thank you, little miss.”

“You saved my life. I’ll repay this debt for sure.”

The Awakeners recovering from their injuries competed to thank Lemura.

Blushing, Lemura replied,

“As long as you’re still breathing, I’ll save you somehow.”

If someone else had said it, they would not have believed them.

But these were words spoken by Lemura, who had just displayed overwhelming abilities.

The recovered Awakeners believed her words completely.

That day, one rumor spread throughout the Steel Fortress.

That a saintess had descended.